The administration of President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador has pinned its hopes on the so-called Maya Riviera, where it has announced plans to build an international airport and a stop for the Maya train, which will run in a loop around the Yucatan peninsula. But there is more to the story. Gulf Cartel Based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, it started in 1920. Zacatecas, once dominated by the old Zetas cartel, has been the scene of turf battles between a number of cartels. The cartel is now splintered into small, competing gangs. A federal grand jury in New York City charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, import and distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana between 2013 and 2017. just terrible.cowards! He specializes in modern Mexican history, and is currently studying the connections between the Mexican Revolution of 1910-140, and the Drug War wracking the country today. Puerto Vallarta and Nayarit on alert after army kills cartel leader With dozens of other people, Garcia took refuge in a low-end clothing store where people can buy $10 soccer jerseys on credit. WebIn Nayarit, he declared, there was no room for organized crime. Homicides fell 75 percent in four years. Public shoot-outs between rival cartel gunmen grew rarer, and by 2016, Since 1970, eighty percent of Mexican tobacco has been grown in the vast plantations of the Nayarit coast, pulling in migrant workers from across central and western Mexico.[2]. Mexicos armed forces delivered a spectacular blow on Thursday night against one of the countrys leading drug cartels when an Apache helicopter rained down machine gun fire on a residence in the Pacific resort of Nayarit where the leader of the Beltrn Leyva organization was holed up, killing him and seven members of his organization. After the brutal murder of his family ordered by his boss Miguel ngel Flix Gallardo, Palma engaged in a string of vicious crimes to They stayed only because there wasnt any way to go, nor any place.. Several shootings have occurred near schools. A 2014 photo of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn being escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture. Str/AFP/Getty Images The gun battle went on for at least 20 minutes. Puerto Vallarta Safe? Crime Rate & Travel Warnings The authorities didnt arrive until the next day. For years, attention focused on violence along Mexicos northern border in cities like Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo. pic.twitter.com/sLXtMeUTHk. The Yucatan Times' content is protected by intellectual property rights, its re-publication, distribution, or retransmission is prohibited without the company's prior authorization. Their activity focused on shipping cocaine from Central and South America to the United States and Europe. He bought a bachelors in forensic science in Tepic, married into a local political family, bought a local transport franchise, and made friends with Roberto Sandoval, who appointed him as Director of Roads and Transit when he became Tepics municipal president in 2008. A 2014 photo of Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn being escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture. The strength of the PRI political machine in a small, provincial but strategic agricultural state enabled an openly corrupt political clique to cut lucrative deals with local drug traffickers. The groups structure changed with the death of Arturo who was gunned down in a military operation on December 16, 2009 and the arrest of Carlos, the youngest brother, two weeks later. WebUpdated at 10 a.m. Known to many in Nayarit as El Diablo or La Bestia, Veytia was described by witnesses to his abuses as the military arm of Sandovals governorship, using the Polica Nayaritthe black-uniformed, balaclava-clad paramilitary police he set up as the states main anti-cartel forceas his own personal army. The difference between a state being a venue for drug production, trafficking, and conflicts between rival cartels, and one in which the cartels have actually taken control of the local authorities (or in which the authorities have in fact become narcos themselves), is an inherently political one. And the killing continued the next day. For the past month, a shot up pick-up truck has rested here. Hctor Luis Palma Salazar - Wikipedia He grew up a dual citizen in San Diego, California, before heading south into Mexico to begin a career of violent crime. Indeed, it is in some ways unsurprising that Cienfuegos would be connected with an organization based in Nayarit, where the unique dynamics of local politics, combined with the states low profile as a hub for trafficking, have long permitted a particular brand of what Benjamin Smith has termed narco-populism to flourish. Government forces guard the entrance of hotel after an armed confrontation on Thursday near Puerto Morelos, Mexico. If this was the case, we can only imagine what Veytia who thanked Sandoval for his intercession with a gift of Spanish horses worth a million dollars and 300 hectares of recently-seized peasant lands gave to the Secretary of Defense in exchange for his support. El Chapo was tried this year in a U.S. court and sentenced to life in prison. His book Soldiers, Saints, and Shamans: Indigenous Communities and the Revolutionary State in Mexico's Gran Nayar, 1910-1940 was published in 2020. Thanks for everything. The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the resort Last Wednesday, he announced a special strategy to address the cities with the most murders, among them Fresnillo: more military presence and more social development. If Sinaloans dominated the higher echelons of the Nayarits drug trade, from the 1980s growing numbers of Nayarit natives also began to move from drug production into the more profitable business of trafficking. It was this indictment that led to the Cienfuegos arrest in the United States and revealed his place in the Nayarit corruption story. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution In 2020 Mexico had the highest number of homicides in the countrys history, there were 17,439 murders, a 1.7% increase but most of the deaths in Mexico are due to fighting between cartels and if you are not part of the cartel then you are probably safe. Highways running north to key border cities pass through Zacatecas, providing a direct route for northbound drugs and southbound guns. It would seem that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, who now moved into Nayarit en masse, had outbid Patrn Snchez and become Veytias new paymasters. Some 200 armed men had [4] But violence related to the drug trade only began to surge in Nayarit after President Calderns 2006 declaration of war on the nations cartels. Rather, it was an organization that not only controlled drug trafficking in Nayarit between 2011 and 2017, but also established close ties with much of the states political elite. How did people fight for their rights back in the 20s? Mexico cartel shootout leaves 18 dead. President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador accused. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. He became municipal president of Tepic in 2008, and succeeded Gonzlez to the state governorship in 2011, using the PRIs impressive local political machine, together with a carefully cultivated cowboy image, and assurances that only he could put a stop to the violence then wracking the state, to appeal to Nayarits beleaguered and predominantly rural electorate. WebJuly 25, 2021 VALPARASO, Mexico (AP) When they heard gunfire in the valley, residents locked their doors and cowered inside their homes. By 2010, Tepic had a murder rate of 229 for every 100,000 inhabitants, and was ranked the thirteenth most dangerous city in the world. Since then, H-2 and his men had fought hard against El Chapos group to maintain control of Nayarit and found a vital ally in Veytia, who from 2011 helped them to locate and assassinate their rivals. Cartel violence is raging in Mexico - should you cancel your trip? In 2019, Veytia was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison in a U.S. drug-trafficking case accusing him of using wiretaps and other law enforcement tools to protect the turf of a drug cartel. The , While it is too early to know the full story, according to court documents Cienfuegos advised Patrn Snchez about US investigations into his activities; as alerted him to the presence of informants within his organization (which led Patrn Snchez to order at least one murder); and made sure his subordinates in the Mexican security forces refrained from interfering in the H-2 cartels, However mutually beneficial the relationships had been, in 2017 the alliance between Patrn Snchez, Veytia, Sandoval and Cienfuegos fell apart in truly spectacular fashion. A young hepless male sits inside a vehicle su "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat Ex-con and comedian Johnny Mitchell explains what it's really like to sell weed for the Mex "HEARST" for Borderland Beat In a confusing early morning event, Army soldiers shot five men dead in the border city of Nuevo Lare "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat In the municipality of Matamoros, the Grupo Escorpin, a faction of the Gulf Cartel, shows off "HEARST" for Borderland Beat The Attorney General announced that El Mayos Tijuana lieutenant, El Aquiles, organized the street e Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels, Federal Operation Raid To Capture "Guano" Guzman, Convicted Dealer Exposes What It's Like to Work With Mexican Cartels, Five Killed in Nuevo Laredo, CDN Hitman Among the Dead, Human Rights Violation Allegations, Matamoros, Tamaulipas: Grupo Escorpin, Armed Wing of the Gulf Cartel Interrogates Several Captives, Mayo's Aquiles Had El Lobo's Lawyer Killed, says Attorney General. From having the second-lowest crime rate in Mexico during the first two months of 2017, Nayarit was soon the setting for public shoot-outs between Beltrn Leyva remnants and the invading CJNG, the latter now backed by Veytias successor as state attorney general, Javier Herrera Valle. [1] With any case against Cienfuegos now reliant on the information available to the Mexican prosecutors officewhich, just days before Cienfuegos release, issued an arrest warrant for a former governor of Nayarit also accused of cooperation with the H-2 Cartelit would seem that the Narco-Nayarit connection has never been more worthy of serious analysis. Bernandino Hernandez/AP There have been signs that the situation in Quintana Roo state, where all the resorts are located, was out of control months ago. hide caption. Plaza Cigarrera looks like a boring strip mall in Tepic, capital of Mexico's Pacific coast state of Nayarit. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); All Rights Reserved The Yucatan Times 2020, Merida number one in the preference for Easter vacations, US Ambassador Ken Salazar says the USMCA achieved Teslas investment in Mexico, Lpez Obrador accuses opponents of exaggerating minister Yasmn Esquivels case, German circus replaces wild animals with holograms, Maya indigenous tourist guide speaks 4 languages fluidly, Battle for water in Yucatan: there are big challenges to ensure the supply, Rhythmic gymnastics team will compete in Yucatan Cup, Worlds second-largest blue hole found off the Yucatan Peninsula shores, Cine Mvil ToTo: dates and locations in Yucatn.